Bihar Sees Sixth Lynching in Five Days as Mobs Give 'Faisla on The Spot'

Sasaram: In yet another incident of lynching, a 20-year-old man was battered to death by a mob on Tuesday after he allegedly tried to loot over Rs 24 lakh from railway employees on a busy road in Bihar's Rohtas district, police said.

In the past five days, six incidents of mob lynching have been reported in the state, raising question marks about the law and order machinery in the state.

The incident happened when Booking Assistant Ashok Singh had gone to a bank to deposit the amount collected from sale of tickets at Sasaram station. Police said Pankaj Goswami had tried to snatch the bag and even opened fire at Ashok when he resisted. The railway official and another woman sustained injuries.

When Pankaj tried to flee with the bag, locals raised an alarm and surrounded him. The angry mob attacked him with lathis, stones and sharp weapons. He died in a matter of ten minutes, cops said. Rohtas ASP Rajesh Kumar six live bullets were recovered from the possession of the victim.

According to officials, the several incidents of mob lynching come close on the heels of an increase in the number of gang-rape cases, creating an atmosphere of frustration among people.

It has given a rise to the call of ‘faisla’ on the spot, suggesting that people are frustrated with the speed of justice and are taking law into their own hands. They are also encouraged by the fact that rarely anyone has been held responsible for a crime involving mobs.

Rupesh Kumar Jha, a resident of Sitamarhi village, also succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday after a mob brutally beat him up on the suspicion of being a thief. He had pleaded guilty and sought mercy but no one listened him as he had several cases registered against him.

On September 8, an elderly woman was also beaten to death in Sasaram for practising “witchcraft”. The police have lodged an FIR against almost 150 unidentified people.

A day before that, three persons with criminal backgrounds were lynched by a mob in Begusarai district when they allegedly tried to kidnap a Class V girl student from a school campus.